"They desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.... for he has prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:16)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Page CXVI Hymns-- Free Music!

You will definitely want to check out an emerging phenomenon in current contemporary hymnody: anonymous, hymn-loving indie rockers. This group or rather project is known as Page CXVI hymns. They have already released one project and are on the cusp of their sophomore record. I haven't gotten the full picture yet as to why they don't release their identities. They actually do if you invite them to your church to play. And they have the requisite Twitter, Facebook and My Space presences. Nevertheless, I appreciate the intentional anonymity of the project's drivers b/c there are way too many "rock stars" in the Christian contemporary music world (pun intended).

This music isn't just skull candy. This is the old stuff w/ some counter-intuitive sounds, yet the new tunes aren't distracting. The substance of the text remains powerful, and most if not all their arrangements can be sung by the English-speaking church. These brothers and sisters are amongst the ranks of those restoring hymnody back to the church. I pray their tribe increases.

Get the whole first album for free just this week only! Then go ahead and download their newest recording which includes among the selections How Great Thou Art, Jesus, I am Resting, Resting and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Why the name? From their website:

The name comes from a reference to page 116 in our copy of The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void.

It starts, “In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction is was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.”

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Welcome!

This is a diary and conversation of Will & Rachel Pareja for those who are: considering a move to a big city, recently arrived to a big city, single or married, old or young or for those who have been living in the big city for a while. It is "jaded" in that it is written from a Christian worldview and that especially it attempts to address living Christianly in urban environs where the stakes of cultural forces are much higher.